Indonesia to release drug convict Frenchman on parole

This file photograph taken on April 19, 2011 shows jailed French national Michael Blanc looking on during an interview at Cipinang prison in Jakarta. The Indonesian authorities have approved the parole of Frenchman Michael Blanc jailed 14 years ago for drug-smuggling and he could be released in the coming days, an official said on January 19, 2014. -- FILE PHOTO: AFP

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian authorities have approved the parole of a Frenchman jailed 14 years ago for drug-smuggling and he could be released in the coming days, an official said on Sunday.

The rare approval for the early release of a foreigner will raise hopes for high-profile Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby, whose efforts to be freed on parole in recent months have been bogged down by bureaucratic wrangling.

Michael Blanc, 40, was arrested the day after Christmas in 1999 at the airport on the resort island of Bali with 3.8 kg of hash hidden in diving canisters.

"Michael Blanc's parole has been approved," the justice ministry's prisons spokeswoman Ika Yusanti told AFP, but added it will still take a day or two to work out administrative details.